📩 20/09/2023 12:36
The ever-developing use of technology in the education sector brings various obligations to schools and administrators. Responsible personnel need to take precautions at many points such as students' online security, compliance, device management, and protection of student data. Today's powerful web filtering solutions go beyond the basics of allowing or blocking access to specific websites, providing the safest online learning conditions for students with advanced features. Acronis, a global leader in cyber protection, shares 6 web filtering methods that schools should implement.
With the development and widespread use of technology, devices frequently used by students and education personnel benefit educational institutions at many points. However, malware, distracting and inappropriate content hosted by the online world can cause various harm to educational institutions. Web filtering software inspects the locations from which users browse the Internet, allowing an organization to allow or block web traffic to protect against potential threats and enforce corporate policies. A web filter works on the principle of whitelist and blacklist, restricting access to potentially threatening and unsuitable sites as a system. Web filters, which offer a safe internet experience for students who work practically with computers and are interested in exploring, are among the most requested software by educational institutions. Acronis, a global leader in cyber protection, shares 6 web filtering methods that schools should implement.
1. URL Filtering: A URL is a specific address that directs the user to a web page. Security administrators can add a URL to allow or block to customize controls for online content access. For example, an educational institution may restrict access to certain web pages because they are more susceptible to games or other distracting content.
2. Search Engine Filters: A search engine filter restricts SERP listings to prevent malicious sites or URLs with inappropriate content from being displayed. Such a filter is available as part of many search engine platforms. For example, Google's SafeSearch feature can restrict open results in Google searches. Secure search can be useful when students are searching online, but if a student visits a site directly by typing a URL in the address bar, the feature is considered invalid.
3. Network Filters: Educational institutions; It uses network-based filtering to protect the entire network by allowing or blocking access categories, URLs, domains, and keywords. This filtering method is more powerful and easier to install compared to search engine web filtering tools. However, if a student uses their mobile device outside the school network to work on homework or other educational tasks, the tool does not filter online content.
4. Filters Installed by the Device: IT staff can download and install a web filter directly as a program on all devices in the school. This approach may be suitable for smaller device volumes, but does not provide a practical solution for larger educational institutions.
5. DNS Filtering: DNS filtering, an important part of the security strategy, means blocking access to all domain names or websites. In this way, an administrator can put domain names on the blocked list and restrict students and teachers from accessing blocked websites. Some educational institutions may use DNS filtering for advanced social networking regulation by restricting access to social media sites during school hours.
6. Keyword Filtering: This approach, which allows IT teams to use keywords to block websites, is frequently used by administrators alongside URL and category filtering in many web filtering solutions. However, some keyword filtering tools require selecting from hundreds or thousands of keywords to filter content appropriately.
Web filters provide online protection in educational institutions by restricting access to harmful websites and unwanted content. However, each filtering application does not provide sufficient protection on its own, as it offers solutions in different areas. Acronis MSP Cloud-based URL filtering software blocks access to malicious and unwanted websites through signature and artificial intelligence-based detection and identification. Thanks to its advanced categorization customization based on the type of website it hosts, it makes it possible to manage many filtering features under a single roof.